Erdogan vs. Environmentalists: dams and nuclear plants

Race on to prove just who is 'greenest' Turk
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
ISTANBUL – TDN with wire dispatches

In the latest clash between environmentalists and the government, the prime minister describes himself as the real environmentalist and defends the policy to build dams and nuclear plants in order to address the country’s growing energy needs

Turkey's efforts to expand its energy production to keep up with its growing economy has forced it to utilize every available resource, including building nuclear, hydro and thermal plants. Each additional project has made ever-clearer battle lines between locals and activists on the one side and the government and an outspoken prime minister on the other.

One such sharp line is yesterday's announcement of the finalists for building Turkey's first nuclear power plants. In its determination to have the plants built, the government rejected requests for an extension to the deadline, saying the companies should work harder to meet the date.

The environmental activists entered the war when 33 activists from 20 countries were detained and then released for their protests against plans to build one of the nuclear power plant in the Black Sea province of Sinop in the latest incident reported by the Hürriyet daily.

Meanwhile, the government's drive to build a series of hydroelectric dams on every available river in the Black Sea region has set it against locals who argue that the dams will disrupt the natural cycle of life and their livelihood, with jobs created seldom addressing the changes introduced to the area.

For this, Turkey is waging an international public relations battle with its plans to submerge the town of Hasankeyf in southeast Turkey once the Ilısu Dam is complete, the government's argument is that the loss is acceptable once one considers the benefits to the region and the economy.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan showed where he stands on the issues in a speech he made in the Black Sea province of Rize over the weekend by describing environmentalists as “strayaways” who did not do anything to protect nature.

Erdoğan, who was also furious over the criticisms directed at the government by environmentalists and the media for the fish farms that polluted some of the most beautiful beaches in the Aegean province of Muğla, used the opportunity to slam environmentalists as a whole.

The prime minister said the government was “doing something, unlike the environmentalists,” reported the Doğan news agency.

He said: “Where were you until now? Why were you silent? The government is trying to do something now. Why didn't you do anything when the fish farms were first built. There is this tendency to hit at the government and Tayyip Erdoğan no matter what. You don't have the right.”

He said he was an environmentalist, as was his government. “Just ask those who prance around saying ‘I am an environmentalist.' What have they done for the world or the environment? Who are they? They are just people who try to do something with their spare time.”

The government had taken measures on the environment that no other had dared, said the prime minister. “We have signed the Kyoto protocol. Did they even stop to say thank you.”

He also criticized those who objected to the building of hydroelectric dams in the region.

He said there may be mistakes committed, which would be speedily corrected. “What will you [environmentalists] do when there is no electricity tomorrow?”

He also said the anti-nuclear activists arrested in Sinop had the address wrong. “The first nuclear plant will be built in Akkuyu in the Mersin province on the Mediterranean coast,” he said.

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